In Search of Leaves

It was early Saturday morning. I got up, showered, and dressed, all the while thinking about my "dilemma". You see, I LOVE to watch college football! From the time the last of the bowl and championship games are played in early January, I practically count the days until college football season begins again in September. Not only do I like to watch the games, but I also like to watch the College Gameday show on ESPN that starts at 10 AM. Anything that I need to do on Saturdays this time of year is most always planned around the schedule of whatever games I want to watch. As you might guess, all this adoration of college football can, if I let it, consume just about all day every Saturday. NOTHING gets in the way of college football!

So what was my dilemma? My daughter had a leaf collection project for school due in less than a week. Since I helped our son with the same project when he was in fifth grade, I somehow became the defacto expert in our house for leaf collection. There was no avoiding it - I was going to have to take part of my precious Saturday to go visit some parks with my daughter to collect leaves - how could I do this and not miss any of the football I wanted to watch, I kept thinking? I soon came to the realization that I would have to accept the inevitable - my daughter needed my help so I was going to miss some football today...bummer!

Off we went, stopping at two parks where we were able to find quite a few leaves, taking pictures of the trees and then carefully putting each in an envelope and numbering it so we could later match it to the picture. Then we stopped for some lunch. It was about this time that I had a revelation - I was missing some of my beloved college football - and I was not minding it. Why? Because I was spending some good one on one time with someone who I love far more than any football game - my pride, my joy, my princess - my daughter! And, I was enjoying every minute of it!

I share this story because, like many other parents, I too often get caught up in what I want and my own schedule, rather than what is most important. I often hear of parents giving their kids really extravagant gifts or experiences in the belief that those things will make their kids happy. That's all well and good, but I think what our kids really need, and want, is our uninterrupted, focused attention and time devoted to them. Whether it's a simple school project, or throwing the ball in the yard, the time spent with our kids will impact them - and us parents - for a lifetime.

That's what Indian Guides/Princesses is all about when you get right down to it. Our campouts are a really great opportunity to get away from the normal hectic daily routine and just spend some uninterrupted time with our kids, and of course, the other families in our tribe. As you consider our upcoming camping season, I hope you will attend as many campouts as possible; when you are able to camp, I hope you will make every effort to camp for the full weekend, not just dash in for part of a day if possible. I actually put all the campouts on my calendar so as I or my office assistants schedule my time, little or nothing gets scheduled for "camping Fridays". Simply put, I believe the campouts are a really unique opportunity for fun with our kids - they are worth making time for.

Remember, you have 18 summers to positively impact your kids....make time to "Search for Leaves".....